OK, my first post after my absence- Need advice on hearing aids. After many years of loud race cars, plinking with a .45 and a .357, plus using a hammer drill for work, I now have a 35% loss on both sides. Have been checked twice and suggested aids. But damn, they are brutally expensive, cheapest being a Seimans set at 1500.00. Any suggestions on a decent unit that won't require a mortgage? Thanks, hive.
Chuck
My doc raised the possibility with me at my last physical.
So I am “all ears” on this topic. LOL.
Ok I will show my self out now.
I was told that this degree of loss is common in older adults. I'm 73, so no surprise there. But very tired of saying WHAT?
In reply to cwh :
Good for you, for being humble enough to accept this and be willing to do something about it. My father in law refuses to get one “because it’ll make me look like an old man”. My reply back is always “you already look like an old man, don’t kid yourself.” And believe me, the entire family is tired of repeating ourselves, and 99% of his marital arguments stem from him not hearing his wife.
My mom has been h having decent luck with the trial cards that come in the mail. She's been wearing hearing aids for over 20 years, so maybe she's on some extra mailing lists now. Hasn't found any that she's willing to pay for yet, but getting 30-90 days to try different types out is helpful.
In reply to cwh :
Being GRM, and given all the cheap tech/electronics available, I’m sure we could find the bits to build your own set for $50-$100. They might not have the quality, compactness, or comfort as a $1500 set, but I bet they’d still offer a noticeable improvement.
I've worn them my whole life. Honestly if your insurance doesn't cover them I would just get them from Costco. The markup on hearing aids is rediculous (borderline criminal) at a regular audiologists office. Costco sells alot of the same devices, just rebranded. They can do the testing/fitting in store. They also have the best prices on batteries.
Skip the fancy stuff like smartphone integration etc...it usually doesn't work as advertised and is wasted money in my opinion.
I'm 74. Got tired of saying "what" so I've got hearing aids on order. As usual I probably made the wrong decision and I went all out and getting bluetooth and rechargable top of the line. Already paid for through UNC Hearing. Should have done more research. Anyway I will share my thoughts after I get them.
Sporting a mismatched pair of Unidens that are realistically on their way out.....will be following along.
There seem to be good deals on amazon.com and ebay? My Dad did that and then had the Dr adjust them.
In reply to Pete Gossett :
I don't see why you couldn't inverse the signal from noise cancelling headphones and amplify it the do the same thing as hearing aids. Plus you'd look cool rocking the same headphones the kids wear.
If you are a veteran, taking the VA route will save a pile of money.
In reply to cwh :
Been there, done that. I just purchased my 3rd set. That's over a very long time. Expensive, yes but you get a heaing test that suggests what you need. Regular care. Batteies for a long time. If you spead the cost over the long life, it's not so bad. Go to a licensed audiologist for proper fitting.
When my father was not sure he wanted one I got him one of these $39 from amazon.
He said it helped a lot, they do amplify everything without filters.
After wearing it for a while he got some from medicare, I think he paid $300 or so.
His hearing continues to deteriorate so he may need new ones or for them to be adjusted.
Good luck
mcs5280 said:I've worn them my whole life. Honestly if your insurance doesn't cover them I would just get them from Costco. The markup on hearing aids is rediculous (borderline criminal) at a regular audiologists office. Costco sells alot of the same devices, just rebranded. They can do the testing/fitting in store. They also have the best prices on batteries.
Skip the fancy stuff like smartphone integration etc...it usually doesn't work as advertised and is wasted money in my opinion.
I came here for this
In for more information: I need hearing aids for both sides now. Left ear has been bad for ~30 years and now the right is getting to the point that my vocabulary is mostly "What?". I can hear some frequencies just fine and others almost not at all. That means I will need ones that are very tuneable (expensive).
I will be getting them from the ENT practice that I have used for years. And my insurance will cover most of the cost. Prices range from $1300 each to $2550 each and I probably need ones near the top of that range (Audiologist wants to do more testing).
Main question I have is "Are the rechargeable types worth the extra $250 over the replaceable battery types?". I know I don't want or need Bluetooth and some of that other stuff (Audiologist recommended against it).
My question is do they make a difference? I have trouble following conversations if there is background noise and I know I can't hear some frequencies. I don't understand how amplifying the sound can fix this. I am genuinely curious about this.
I don't have any first hand experience, but seems dad likes the ones he has with smart phone/bluetooth programmability. Besides hooking up to his motorcycle helmet mics via bluetooth, he can adjust the tuning from his smart phone so it filters out background noise more aggressively (like on the bike or dinner at a pub) vs turning up everything equally (like a conversation in a quiet restaurant). I do know they were expensive (I believe $2k apiece?), but insurance covered most of it for him.
That's interesting. I wasn't sure if you could tune for specific frequencies or not. Certainly worth an investigation . Thanks.
conesare2seconds said:If you are a veteran, taking the VA route will save a pile of money.
One of my neighbors did. He flew back seat in F4’s in the Navy during Vietnam. We know how loud those berkeleyers are.
I know nothing about them, but I just minutes ago read an article in the Minneapolis newspaper about IntriCon. Their website talks about how their hearing aids are low cost and high quality: https://www.intricon.com/products/value-hearing-health/ They don't sell direct but there are links to a couple distributors.
In reply to lateapexer :
According to the Audiologist they can be tuned differently for frequency bands. The more expensive they are, the more bands they have. Meaning they can be tuned for narrower frequency bands. That's why she wants to do some more testing for me. Said there is no reason to pay for extra tuning capacity if I don't need it.
I just searched the Google play store and there are hearing aid apps for your phone. Maybe give some of those a shot.
Edit; I SAID THERE ARE APPS FOR YOUR PHONE!! TRY THOSE!!
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
The problem I have isn't that your voice is too low, it's that there are chunks missing from what you say and when you raise your voice the chunks are still missing.
lateapexer said:That's interesting. I wasn't sure if you could tune for specific frequencies or not. Certainly worth an investigation . Thanks.
Is this like tuning out the spousal frequency? I would think there could be a huge market here?
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